Nothing has changed
by Yogalicious
Summary: House makes an interesting discovery in Chase's apartment. He's not very amused about it. Is Chase falling off the tracks after the attack in Nobody's fault? This story shows what could have happened if House had actually gone into Chase's apartment when he visited Chase at the beginning of the episode Chase.


_Hi Guys! Actually, I should be writing on my CF story "Too Good at Goodbyes". But to be honest, I've just hit a wall there. So I thought what could help me get over this annoying writer's block? So I guess, going back to where it all started could help. I hope it lifts my confidence in writing and helps me to get going. And what's better than a little House & Chase get together, right? I just rewatched the episode Chase from season 8 and even though I love it, I always thought it could have more House and Chase quality time together. So here's my twist and turn on it._

 _I hope you like it._

 _Dialog directly from the episode is in italic. I borrowed it, it's not mine_.

* * *

Chase made his way over to his front door after he got his boss's text that read "Ding Dong". Chase wasn't actually surprised that House, in the end, showed up at his front door after he ditched his calls for weeks now. To be fair, he didn't pick up or called back simply because he didn't know what to say to the man. House's and his relationship wasn't always the easiest and despite the fact that he genuinely liked the man, there was always the possibility of House being House, which meant it could get either very annoying or rather hurtful. And since Chase's mind wasn't exactly stable right now, he just couldn't gather the strength to face his boss. He had to figure out some things on his own and it was hard enough even without House's antics. He didn't really blame House for what had happened to him. How could he?

House didn't bring that scalpel to a possibly mentally unstable patient. It was him who did that. And he felt shame and self-loathing. He was ashamed of the way House got to him and that he wasn't mature enough to handle his bosses' pranks better. Chase should never have tried to prove him wrong just to spite him, or at least he should have done it with smarts and not defiance.

Chase sighed as he opened the door and tried to prepare himself for the first confrontation with his boss since the little visit during his PT-session back in the hospital.

House leaned in on his cane in front of him, and it felt almost like a punch to the gut. Maybe from another perspective, he could have taken the irony of this view better, but right now as he was holding himself upright with his crutches, Chase simply felt awkward and weak.

And of course, House would have his fun with it, and the fact that his latest nightly conquest walked by in the background gave the older man a perfect opportunity to insult them both.

" _If she likes crippled guys, I'm free for the next six minutes."  
" What do you want?"  
"45 year-old truck driver, recurrent seizures. No metabolic or structural…"  
"Does this look like a good time?"  
"Sort of. At least as good as the other 12 times that I've called and paged you in the last three weeks."  
"Those times I just didn't feel like talking to you. Kinda like now."  
"I'd apologize again, but I'm still waiting for you to accept the first one."_And after a little pause he added, " _you do work for me. I am entitled to ask when you're coming back._ "  
 _"I don't know when I'm coming back. I don't know if I'm coming back. Got a problem with that, fire me."_

Chase thought this conversation was over and so he shut the door using one of his crutches, and it felt oddly natural to do so. Most of the time he didn't recognize that he managed to use his walking aids to do simple tasks. But now that Chase had just seen House, he wondered how much of an impact the other man had on his quick adaption to this new environment. After all, Chase subconsciously watched his boss use his cane the way he did for years now. It had to have some kind of influence on him. Maybe he merely copied his mentors' behavior in more ways, than he would ever have thought of.

But Chase's musing was interrupted by House who wasn't ready to end this encounter. He pushed the door open using his cane and stepped into the apartment.

"How nice of you to invite me in," he chirped.

"I'll ask again, what do you want, House? I told you I'm in no mood for …"

But House cut him off, "Yeah, yeah, you're moping. I got it the first time. But see, it's all about courtesy. I made it all the way here just to get a few answers, and it's on you to provide them. So, I guess you're stuck with me. The matter of time being is on you. The ball's definitely in your court now."

"House, I told you I don't know when or if, …" Chase tried again to end a sentence, but his boss wasn't going to let him since he wasn't going to get the answer he wanted to hear.

"We could play that game forever. It's gonna be no fun, but what's fun anyway?"

House limped over to the little seating area in Chase's living room when he spotted something on the table. "Guess we found fun," he mumbled before turning around looking directly at Chase.

„What's this," House asked with some kind of an angry vibe to his tone?

„Nothing." Came Chase's quick but short answer. Instinctively he leaned more heavily on his crutches as if he wanted to brace himself against an attack.

„Nothing?" House mimicked his underling than paused for a second before continuing with the issue. „For ‚nothing', it's oddly cocaine-shaped."

He paused again while inspecting Chase over from head to toe like he was expecting him to flinch or crumble in on himself any minute. But Chase just stood there holding House's gaze without saying any word.

House took the little plastic bag with the white powder in it and looked at it. Then he put it back, and with his finger, he swiped some from the dusty leftovers, which had been strewed probably the night before, off from the glass table. He looked at the white powder now on his finger and smelled it; then he licked the dust off. He used his finger to distribute the cocaine in his mouth. Chase looked at him and smirked while shaking his head in disbelieve, but otherwise kept still quiet.

House wrinkled his nose, and after some smacking noises he addressed the younger man, "You do know, just because you're limping doesn't mean you have to establish a drug habit."

"I don't."

"You don't know, or you don't do drugs," House asked his employee. "Because clearly, the evidence speaks against you." He shifted his weight from one site to the other, and after taking in a deep breath, he said, "So, I'm going to tell you again. Maybe you've gotten confused or something, but just because of your new-found fetish for walking aids, this doesn't qualify you to become the second most attractive doc in the hospital with a drug problem."

"Yea? And who's fault would that be?" Chase as well, shifted his weight and glared at his boss.

"Don't know Chase, but I'd definitely blame mommy and daddy on that part."

"Of course, you would," the younger doctor huffed.

"What? Just because they're dead, they can't be held responsible? That's almost insulting, isn't it? They worked so hard just to mess you up."

Chase smirked disgusted at Houses implication, "Can't be the guy, who's running around with a cane, popping pills every five minutes, for the last ten years that I've known him," he spat out in Houses direction.

"Oh Chase, I expected so much more from you," House shook his head to underline his disappointment. "No, wait! … Actually, I didn't. I'm just surprised it needed a stabbing for you to go full on 'dark side'. Plenty of opportunities before that one incident, I might say." He looked sternly at Chase, "Let's walk down memory-lane, should we?"

Chase closed his eyes for a brief moment, just to gather some strength for what he knew would come. Because he was aware that it wouldn't be anything like a walk thru the meadow, and House didn't disappoint, "I'll just skip the alcoholic mommy part. If that's okay with you, it's almost corny and so much of a cliché. Don't you think?"

Chase had to bite his tongue. But he wasn't going to let House get to him. He knew his boss was trying to get a rise out of him. To scream or even break down and cry like a baby. But he wasn't ready to do either one of these things just yet.

House carried on, looking at his employee, almost studying him while he rambled on, " Then there's the one where you killed that mother because daddy didn't tell you about his growing cancer. ... Or the wife that left you because, ... yeah well, we all know why she left. Dead dictator, old news."

Now Chase reached his breaking point, and he shouted, "Shut up, House!"

"Splendid. Me shutting up will help." House chuckled, but his voice never lost its angry undertone.

"Actually, House. It might," Chase sighed, even if he knew House would never shut up or change the subject just because he wanted him to do so. But he gave it a try once more, "You know you're not always the smartest guy in the room."

"That's oddly irritating, coming from you. I have to say, years of brown-nosing beg to differ. But okay. Let's go with this incredibly dumb idea I am in fact not smarter than you. But I'll tell you something. Maybe you skipped that lesson in med-school down-under. I can't be sure what they're teaching young kangaroos who want to become doctors one day, … but taking amphetamines after open heart surgery isn't the right medication to start with. At least not according to the World Health Organization. And you know why? Because your new patch that's supposed to hold your heart in one piece isn't yet strong enough to take tachycardia for a long time of period. And as doctors, we both know how amphetamines work. So, as your doctor, I recommend stopping this behavior right now."

"You're not my doctor." Chase pointed out.

"Clever comeback. But I`ll tell you this won't change the fact that this little white powder could kill you. So, sorry Dr. Chase, no 'fun' for you for the next, uh … let's say at least ... forever."

Chase smirked but frowned at the same time, "Forever? I doubt that."

"Okay. Let's clarify! At least as long as you're working for me."

Now Chase felt a little victory rising up inside of him, "That's good for me then. Because currently, I'm not working for you. But it's nice to know you wanted it to last forever. That's a new one. Actually."

Both men were glaring at each other. House never turned his eyes away from the young doctor in front of him and Chase had a hard time not to squirm under his intensive glance. But help was coming his way, as his one-night-stand came from the bedroom and made his way over to the two doctors.

"Uh, sorry guys," she said. "I don't want to interrupt your little, uh … 'bonding-time', but I have to go to work." She smiled shyly at them.

She was dressed now, and Chase wondered how much she heard from the previous conversation.

"It was nice to meet you, ..." Her look switched between both of them as she added an awkward, "uh … both."

Then she turned to Chase and whispered, "and you! Give me a call when you have time and want some distraction. It was fun."

House rolled his eyes. Of course, he could hear what she was saying, and it almost bothered him.

After she gave Chase a little peck on his cheek she turned around to House and clumsy bent around him to reach for the table behind him. He could smell her intrusive perfume. She looked him in the eyes as she told him with a smirk, "And that's mine. So, you won't mind if I take this with me." She took the little plastic bag and put it in her purse.

"So, what? I don't get a goodbye kiss?" House teased just because he wasn't sure what to do next. He wasn't prepared for what just had happened and this total turnaround for the story.

She smiled politely at him and for a second their eyes met each other. She tilted her head like she was saying, 'ah what the heck', and before House could react she kissed him on the cheek and whispered, "Don't be an ass. He's lost but he's trying. I can tell."

House's eyes caught hers again and he slightly nodded at her. Chase who stood there a bit dumbfounded, bowed his head in embarrassment. All in all, this was one of the most uncomfortable situations yet, he shared with his boss over the long years they knew each other. And they both kept quiet as the girl left the apartment.

Oddly enough Chase was the first one to recover and to say something, "I told you so." It was short but appropriate from his point of view.

House didn't contradict right away. He just smirked at the younger doctor. Chase wasn't sure if House was actually glad about the turn of events or if he was a bit disappointed that in fact, he was the one who was wrong. To underline his victory he added, "but it's nice to know you care."

That did it and House couldn't stop himself from saying, "shut up, Chase." And after a few seconds, he made it clear that he still had the upper hand in their relationship, "and I expect you back to work tomorrow. You can't be that sick if you can hit that."

Chase smiled at him and hobbled towards the door in order to open it to let his boss know it was time for him to leave as well. He wanted to be alone after all this, so he said, "we'll see. I can feel my arrhythmia coming back while talking to you."

"Are you flirting with me, Dr. Chase?" House asked with a smirk. He limped past Chase on his way out.

"You wish," Chase huffed.

House turned around to face his employee once more "Tomorrow at 8 in the clinic," he instructed. "And don't be surprised if there's some blood-drawing involved."

Chase looked at him but wasn't taken aback at all, "You, still think I'm doing drugs," he stated the obvious.

"Everybody lies, Chase. Nothing has changed."

Chase looked at House and with one motion, he shut the door using one of his crutches.

"Guess, it hasn't," he mumbled while he hobbled back into his bedroom. And it had almost something consoling and familiar.


End file.
